'Maybe your new hands are still too weak to wield such a weight.' Solus said, using the core-hand analogy. 'Anyway, it's similar to what happens to Quylla when she tries to use tier three true magic. Maybe we should compare notes with her.'

'Maybe.' Lith replied.

He didn't like the idea of sharing such knowledge, but not because he didn't trust Quylla so much as because he feared for her life. No human before her had become a true mage and if the process caused the formation of a mana flow, she would die.

Once Lith returned to Lutia, everyone seemed to be in a great mood and smiled a lot. The storm that Orpal had caused seemed to have disappeared on the horizon. For some reason, Kamila's parents were gone as well.

The farmhands of the Verhens reported that no one had come during their absence, yet they had received quite a lot of mail.

"It's all addressed to you, dear." Elina handed Lith several thick envelopes, each one covered in magical seals.

"I didn't know you had friends in the Blood Desert." Kamila pointed at a red letter with golden seals.

"Me neither. I'm going to read them in my room." Lith said, hoping to not receive any more bad news.

Kamila followed him, winking to Elina and having the care to lock the door behind her.

"That's overkill. The Hush spell of the room is more than enough to contain my fits of swearing." Lith started from the letters from the Kingdom.

The first letter with the Royal Seal was a gentle reminder for the incoming gala, while the one from the Council notified him that their meeting had been brought forward, but it offered no explanation.

"I'm not afraid of someone hearing you swearing at the tops of your lungs, I just want some privacy." She embraced him from behind, reading the letters as well from over his shoulder and pressing her b.r.e.a.s.ts against his back on purpose.

"Spending so much time with the kids was a wonderful experience, but we never had a moment alone. They slept in our bed the whole vacation." Kamila sensually c.a.r.e.s.sed Lith's cheek, meeting an enhanced stubble that stung at her like an angry porcupine.

"That's why I wanted to keep them out of our bedroom in the first place. Once you open the dam, you must deal with the flood as well. It's part of the deal." He sighed.

"I guess you're right, but it was worth it. You seem to have lost another bit of your edginess. Hold still for a second." Kamila c.a.r.e.s.sed his face while conjuring thin air razors that shaved Lith, leaving his skin smooth and kissable.

Magic couldn't hurt its own master and letting her hold a blade so close to his neck was proof of how much he trusted her.

"What the f.u.c.k?" Lith jumped out of his chair, foiling her attempt to make up for the lack of intimacy of the last few days and sending her butt-first on the ground. "Is this even legal?"

He helped Kamila to get up and shoved a piece of paper in front of her face, hoping that her legal expertise could make sense of it.

"Yes, it is. It's a cease-and-desist act regarding the production of the DoLorean until it has been tested. Congratulations. Something that doesn't involve harming others getting categorized as Forbidden Magic is a very rare event in the history of the Kingdom."

"I never planned on mass producing them. I like my monopoly as it is. Just a DoLorean for Lark and one for you." Lith said.

"Thanks, but I don't need it." Kamila didn't want to feel any more indebted to him than she already was, but his thoughtfulness made her heart flutter, sending butterflies throughout her stomach.

"Nonsense. It was love at first sight for Lark while you can use it to come and go freely from here or to show Zinya around." Lith opened the last envelope, the one from the Desert.

"What the actual f.u.c.k?" They said in unison while reading the following content.

"Dear Lith, as your foremother, I would love to meet one of my long-lost children. We are fellow mages, Forgemasters, and maybe we are also going to be fellow Guardians in the near future.

"We have many things to say to each other and there's a lot that the Blood Desert has to offer to a talented individual such as yourself. Feel free to come to visit me at your earliest convenience.

"This letter allows you to freely cross the borders between our countries and to find my palace. Feel free to bring along whoever you want. They will all be my honored guests.

"With love, Overlord Salaark, Lord of War, God of Forgemasters, and Ruler of the Blood Desert, but you can call me Grandma.

"PS: I've already informed Tyris and made sure that you don't need to ask for anyone's permission to come here.

"PPS: I really love the concept of the DoLorean. Its power core is majestic and refined, but its shape is obnoxious and you guys cut a bit too many corners in the crafting process.

"Allow me to suggest a few changes in the case you want to offer one to me as a welcome gift." Then, it followed the sketches of what closely resembled a muscle car and several notes about how to improve the various spells of the power core.

"You have Phoenix blood? I thought you were a Wyrmling." Kamila was flabbergasted.

"So did I. How does she know about the DoLorean? These notes are…" Lith put them inside Soluspedia to study the many papers at the same time.

'Better than our own design!' Solus said after applying Salaark's suggestions to the blueprints of the DoLorean.

She pointed out to Lith how, even at a first glance, they simplified the crafting process and enhanced the output of all the spells imbued within the power core.

"Better than our own design!" Lith echoed.

"If you ever decide to move to the Desert, please take into account that I don't deal well with hot climates." Kamila sat on the bed, stunned at the idea that Lith was blood-related to Salaark and at the changes that such revelation might bring to their lives.

"Visit? Sure. Moving there? Unlikely." Lith sat beside her and stored all the letters inside his pocket dimension. "Do you still feel ready for action or would you rather rest a bit before lunch?"

"I'm part of the military, baby. I'm always ready." She lay down, dragging him above her. Kamila pushed aside all of her worries about the future, preferring to focus on the here and now.

***

A few days later, after Faluel notified him that it was time to resume his apprenticeship, Lith was surprised by the fact that even though they talked often via the communication amulet, no one of the Ernas had come to visit him.

Jirni summoning him to the Ernas Mansion surprised him even more. She had called him on the army amulet and seeing all of its mana crystals lit up for such a close source could only mean trouble.

"This line is secure. Let us meet tomorrow at noon. Don't use Warp Gates and get here with your own means." She said.